1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a discharge elbow for a forage harvester.
2. Description of Related Art
Forage harvesters are used in agriculture in order to cut crop to be harvested from a field, to pick the crop up, and to chop the crop by means of a chopper drum or a disk wheel chopper and to discharge it to a transport vehicle through an adjustable discharge elbow after accelerating it by means of a blower. In most cases, the harvested plants are used as silage for animal fodder.
For reasons of manufacture and cost, the discharge elbow is provided with a rectangular cross section and is composed of massive sheet metal components which define its walls. An upper sheet metal component borders the flow of harvested crop in the upward direction, while sheet metal components at the sides border the flow of harvested crop in the side ways direction and simultaneously provide adequate stability for the discharge elbow in the vertical direction. As a rule at the bottom side the commercially available discharge elbows are closed partially or completely by sheet metal floors. In smaller attached choppers circular cross sections have also been applied to discharge elbows.
The commercially available, rectangular discharge elbows are relatively heavy due to the massive configurations of the walls, since particularly the upper walls and to a lesser degree the side walls of the discharge elbow wear over time due to the harvested crop flowing past them or impinging on them. Although sheet metal wear plates may be attached to the inside of the outer walls so that they can be removed, due to the poor accessibility it is seen as a disadvantage for maintenance and relatively costly. Even if the exchange of the wear plates is simplified, the total weight of the discharge elbow is not affected positively.